Sunday Football Afterword: Week 12 Early Games

Julio Jones made an impressive touchdown catch
with Leonard Johnson defending.
Photo credit to J. Meric/Getty Images)

I had another pretty solid week picking games. I have only gotten two picks wrong so far this week, with only the Monday Night contest left, and both of those incorrect picks came in yesterday’s early games.

I had the Titans beating the Jaguars, but that didn’t happen as Chad Henne had a really solid day. He threw for exactly as many yards as Jake Locker on the other side, but had a much higher completion percentage and two scores and one pick to Locker’s one touchdown pass and two interceptions. The Titans made it close in the final minutes but Locker’s second pick iced the game as Jacksonville got just their second win of the season.

Another team that has had a few big wins but has struggled overall, the Cleveland Browns, got a win over a division rival. The Browns never pulled away, but three interceptions took care of Pittsburgh third-stringer Charlie Batch. Mike Wallace only had one reception for nine yards, coming on the final Pittsburgh drive of the game.

The other game that I picked wrong was Atlanta at Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers kept it close and probably deserved to win the game, but the Falcons have won games they should have lost all year and that is why they are still sitting pretty at 9-1.

Neither quarterback had a particularly good or bad game, but T.Y. Hilton practically won the game by himself for Indianapolis. He returned a punt 75-yards in the first quarter. After getting rocked on his next punt return they tested him for injury but he came back and made an 8-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter. Those would be the Colts’ only touchdowns of the day in a 20-13 victory.

Carson Palmer’s homecoming was very happy for his former team. Andy Dalton had a huge game. After throwing 14 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in Cincinnati’s first eight games (he threw at least one pick in each of those contests), he has thrown nine touchdowns and zero interceptions in the last three games. The game was never close.

In a game that shouldn’t have ever been close, Kansas City made a game of it against the Broncos. They led 6-0 until the final 30 seconds of the first half when Peyton Manning found Jacob Tamme for a short score. Peyton was hurt on the play and tested for a concussion. He came back in the game and threw another touchdown pass but was a little less accurate. Denver held on and won 17-9.

In Miami, the Seahawks took the lead several times only to have Ryan Tannehill lead his Dolphins to matching scores. Russell Wilson played well, but it wasn’t enough as the Dolphins defended their home field and ended a 3-game losing streak. The Seahawks continue to struggle away from Seattle. They are 5-0 at home but just 1-5 as the visiting team this season.

Chicago looked ready, at times, to let Minnesota back into the game. After holding a 25-3 lead at halftime, Minnesota drove down the field for a score and Twitter-hell broke loose with people like Michael Wilbon (@RealMikeWilbon) complaining that DC’s FOX affiliate switched to the Falcons/Bucs game. But 25-10 was as close as it would get as the Bears added another field goal before the third quarter was over and nobody scored in the fourth quarter.

Check back later for my Sunday Football Afterword for the four late games. Thanks for reading everyone!